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David BearmanThe UndertakerMay 28 at 7:00 PM2NCAA Baseball Regionals: Bearman's Bets
4 Expert Picks
Karl-Anthony Towns has dished out 16 assists the past two games. ...
The Phillies' Cristopher Sanchez is coming off his worst outing of the season...
Andrew Abbott has gone over in his last 5 starts...
The Astros have gone over in 70% of their games...
This is a hefty line for Alperen Sengun as he looks to avoid elimination in Game 5 tonight. DeAndre Ayton has been very good defensively and has made life difficult for Sengun. I expect that to once again be the case in a game that’s projected to be both low scoring and paced down.
FanDuel. With Austin Reaves back for the Lakers, the need for Amen Thompson to remain on the court (for defensive purposes) intensifies even more. Not that his minutes could get much higher, as he’s exceeded 40 in each game this series, but Reaves’ presence also softens the Lakers perimeter defense. Thompson has been incredibly aggressive this series, especially in the absence of Kevin Durant, averaging 13.5 drives over the last two games. Him and Alperen Sengun will serve as the catalysts tonight - I have Amen projected around 27 P+A.
With Kevin Durant sidelined again, Jabari Smith Jr. should see another 40 minutes of action. He's averaging 42 minutes in the series (albeit one game went to OT) and has taken at least 14 shots in each. The Rockets need offense without their scoring leader. Look for the 22-year-old Smith to stay aggressive in this must-win spot.
Carter Hart's honeymoon phase under Coach Tortorella has worn off with back to back mediocre efforts between the pipes in Salt Lake. Fortunately for Hart the defensive structure of the Knights insulates him most evenings and I'm looking for that trend to continue here. The first two games in this series saw a combined 7.71 expected goals at 5 on 5 compared to 10.33 the last two games. Game state made each of the last two contests more wide open especially when teams were chasing multi-goal deficits. Given the swing we'll see tonight I'm looking for a low event tight checking well disciplined effort from both sides lending itself to an under position.
The Rockets got their one to avoid embarrassment via a sweep on their home court, but LA should finish this off at home on Wednesday in Game 5. I expect a huge game from LeBron James after maybe his worst-ever playoff outing in that Game 4 loss. And all signs point to Austin Reaves finally playing even though he's technically a game-time call. Last thing the Lakers need is a Game 6 back in Houston and a few more days on the court ahead of facing the Thunder in Round 2.
The home team has won and covered every game in this series, but I like Toronto’s recent adjustments. The Raptors’ defensive length and discipline have become a problem for the Cavs’ All-Star backcourt. Cleveland wins but this is too many points.
I think we see a much more aggressive Evan Mobley tonight with this series returning to Cleveland and tied at 2-2 a piece. It should come as little surprise that the Cavs won both games when Mobley was assertively offensively and lost both games where he wasn’t engaged. Look for Mobley who averaged 18 PPG in the regular season to make a big impact in Game 5.
Scottie Barnes and RJ Barrett are each averaging close to 25 ppg for the Raptors this series. One of them is scoring 20+ again here. I learn Barrett because the Cavaliers rank 27th in ppg allowed to the power forward spot, and the Cavs' defense, average in general, is focusing more on other spots. RJ can take advantage again.
Scottie Barnes has been amazing this series and is averaging a robust 25/7/5 while serving as the Raptors primary playmaker. With that being said, this is a large combo line for Barnes who averaged just 13 combined Reb+Ast in the regular season. These games have been paced down and I expect that to be the case tonight in Game 5.
Collin Murray-Boyles has gone over his Points+ Rebounds prop in 10 of the last 11 games, clearing 20 points in seven of them. He's hit is prop in all four games this series, going for 18, 24, 30, and 25 P+R. The game he got 18? That was in 20 minutes. He's played 25+ minutes in the last three games and has hit the over in this prop in 8 of the last 9 in which he has reached 25 minutes.
RJ Barrett is averaging 24.3 points and 36.8 minutes in this series -- both second on the team behind Scottie Barnes. Barrett is getting so many minutes because he's playing high-level defense, something he has not always done in the past. Barrett is up for an extension this offseason; he's proving his value against Cleveland. He's also benefitting from the Cavs putting their top two defenders, Dean Wade and Evan Mobley, on Brandon Ingram and Barnes. With Barrett shooting 55.2 percent in this series and not hesitating to let it fly, I bet him to get 20-plus points Wednesday.














